Mou Ichido
by Kage NoTenshi
Summary: After Malik's death Yuugi and co. take a well deserved break, until... status:complete
1. purplish golden eggs

Warning: Fluff and fluff and more fluff. This is a continuation from Kuruma. I highly suggest you go an' read that first.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or it's characters. But I wish I did. ~.~;

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^;

It was a year after Malik had died so suddenly in the tragic accident. Yuugi still felt the strange emptiness within him when he thought of the cry and the screeching tires, the blood and ambulance sirens. He had recovered for the most part, though. Life had returned to a relatively normal pattern. Isis, however, was also gone. Crushed by her little brother's death, she had gone back to Egypt, trying to escape the painful memories. Malik had said as he died that he wanted her to have his deck, but she had given it to Yuugi along with the Sennen Rod. "Keep it, please," she had begged, her eyes filling with tears. "It hurts to remember. I feel the emptiness all the more when I look the cards he once held."

Jounouchi, who had bounced back the fastest, decided out of the blue one day to take Shizuka to the beach, like he had promised long ago. The plans grew from a day of relaxation to tent camping right on the beach, and then all the more because everyone wanted to go along. In the end, they all decided on an overnight with Jounouchi, Shizuka, Yuugi, Honda, Anzu, Bakura, Mai, Seto, and Mokuba. 

Setting up took a good while, but not overly long. After a lot of arguing about which way the poles and stakes went, they finally had the tents (a really big guys' tent and a smaller one for the girls) in a presentable fashion, but everyone was hot and irritated. Shizuka, ever the kind one, suggested that they change and go for a walk down the beach. This was met with unanimous approval, and after about five minutes, everyone was ready to go.

As they made their way down the sands, Jounouchi spotted something up ahead. "Hey look, guys! It's some sort of sand castle!"

As they got closer, it was evident that he wasn't exactly right. "It's…a pyramid!" exclaimed Yuugi. So it was. Made entirely out of sand, it was about three and a half feet tall and four-sided (not counting the base, which was buried). They stood around admiring it.

"It looks like it was just built."

"But there's no one else around here."

"You're right. But it's really nice."

"Hey, I bet I can jump right over it!"

"I bet you can't, Jounouchi."  
"Just watch me!" Jounouchi took a running start and leapt, but tripped on a piece of coral that had washed up on the sands. He fell unceremoniously on his face into the structure, shattering it in an explosion of sand. He stopped half way, though, having hit something quite solid in the middle.

"Are you okay, Oniisan?"

"Just fine," he mumbled, sitting up. "Ow…"

"What's that in the sand?" asked Honda.

"Let's find out." They cleared the remains of the pyramid away to uncover something smooth and not quite round. It was…

"It looks like an egg," said Honda.

"An egg??" shrilled Anzu. "That thing has to be at least two feet long, and it's _purple._"

"Almost purple," put in Seto. "It's sort of goldish, too."

Upon further inspection, they realized that it was a deep purple with hairline threads of gold crisscrossing the surface, giving it a sort of shine in the sunlight. "I still think it's an egg," said Honda.

"Great!" exclaimed Jounouchi. "Can we cook it and eat?"

"Um…maybe we should see what comes out of it," suggested Yuugi, sweatdropping. "We've got plenty of other food at the campsite."

"Ohh…okay."

Using their famous method of teamwork, the group managed to roll the thing back to the campsite, where they left it under a tree. With the excitement of making dinner over a fire, they completely forgot about it in a very short time. Everyone crawled into his or her tent to sleep. There was a furious but short argument when Yami appeared, because of the combined factors of limited space and Yami's impossible hair. Yami protested but was locked in his soul room anyways. They finally settled down and were just falling asleep when Yuugi and Bakura sat bolt up at the same moment. "Nng…go back to sleep you guys," groaned Jounouchi.

Neither did.

Aren't I evil! You have to WAIT for me to update.


	2. enter little Malik

"What IS it?" snapped Seto.

"I…I sensed something," whispered Yuugi.

"He's right," agreed Bakura. "There's power nearby." Everyone was suddenly aware of a light glowing outside.

"The egg!" shouted Honda. They scrambled out of the tent to find that he was right. The egg was shining with a light of its own. Mai sleepily poked her head out of the girls' tent to see what the fuss was, and Jounouchi noted silently with a grin that she got bed head too. In a few seconds, the girls were outside too, watching wide-eyed as the light intensified. 

"It's time," murmured Bakura. As the words left his lips, a line of brilliance appeared in the shell and lengthened. To everyone's surprise, it did not branch out every which way, but instead remained perfectly straight, slicing the egg neatly in half long ways. Slowly, the light faded as the circular cut finished and the top slid noiselessly to the ground. Everyone leaned forward to see what was inside. Seto, being very brave, walked up first with a lantern and froze. 

"It's…a KID…" he choked out.

Everyone else raced forward. Indeed, curled up in the fetal position was a small child, but definitely bigger than a newborn. It stirred, still slimy from the egg fluids. "Take it out," urged Mai.

Seto rolled up his sleeves and carefully lifted the form from the egg. The child wore a sort of skirt made of linen the purple of the eggshell tied around the waist with a gold sash. Yuugi looked at the style with which the child wore it. "It looks…Egyptian," he remarked.

The kid opened his eyes and looked about. The eyes were the same dark violet the egg had been. Anzu ran up with a towel to dry him off. "He seems familiar," she said softly.

"Malik," murmured Bakura.

Mai shook her head. "You still miss that troublemaker, don't you?"

"No, I mean, he looks like Malik," said Bakura, touching the damp pale hair. "Only, it's Malik like he would have looked if he were about five."

Yuugi gave the silent child a good hard stare. "You're right," he said. "He does."

Anzu, who was still drying him off, gave a small cry. "Look! His back!"

Seto held up the lantern and they all stared. In perfect scars across his back, Yuugi recognized the hieroglyphics and pictures of the directions for the god cards. "That's him." The words Malik had gasped out before he died rang in Yuugi's head. _We'll…meet again… I'll get…another chance…when you…least expect it…_

Another chance… thought Yuugi. _He was right. He gets another chance to live like he couldn't before._

Little Malik looked about at all the faces and then yawned. "We should let him rest," suggested Bakura. "He probably wants some sleep."

"So do the rest of us," put in Mai.

Slowly, they all crept back into their sleeping bags, except for Malik, who curled up in an extra blanket. No one stayed awake long after that.

Yuugi woke early when Malik rose and quietly left the tent. He watched as the boy walked barefoot to the empty shell under the tree and reached in. Carefully, reverently, he pulled out a handful of something that glittered. Slowly, with ceremony, he put the gold bands on his neck, arms, wrists, and little fingers. Lastly, he put the dangling earrings into his lobes, and then let his hands drop to his sides. The early morning sun rising over the ocean glittered on the precious metal as Yuugi stepped out of the tent. "Did you sleep well, Malik?" he asked gently.

"Yes."

Yuugi marveled at how different the voice seemed. It was the unbroken resonance of a young child, not the jaded sound of a misled teen. Yet, it was Malik through and through. "Do you want to go walk on the beach? You haven't been there yet, have you?"

"No. I'll come."

They walked the short distance to the sand together, and Yuugi heard Yami's voice within him. _Let me talk to him._ Yuugi complied, and the transformation took place as soon as they had reached the sand. Little Malik's eyes widened, and he inclined his head respectfully. "Pharaoh…"


	3. Sand Crabs!

Yami smiled gently. "You remember," he said. "What else do you know?"

Malik shook his head. 

"Nothing else?"

"With time, maybe, Pharaoh," he murmured, his eyes downcast.

Yami could not suppress a small laugh. "I am Yuugi now. Or, more correctly, Yami Yuugi. The time of royalty has faded millenniums ago. We are to be friends, I hope."

Malik looked up and smiled. "Okay!"

Everyone else awoke to the delicious smell of cocoa and eggs and emerged to see Yuugi and Malik making breakfast and talking amiably. "Dibs on the food!" yelled Jounouchi joyfully.

"Me too!" shrieked Shizuka, diving out of her tent for a plate. Seto watched wide-eyed as the pair dug in, wondering how Shizuka had gotten her name. It did mean quiet, after all.

"Like brother, like sister, I guess," he muttered, and stepped out to get his own food in a much more dignified manner. Mokuba, however, zipped ahead and was avidly competing with the Jounouchi siblings when it came to eating. It was Honda, though, who ate more than anyone else. "Ahh," groaned Jounouchi, stretching after his last bite. "I don' wanna go home today."

"We do have school tomorrow," said Anzu.

"Duh," said Jounouchi. "I'd rather stay here any day."

Seto smirked slightly. "Well, unlike some people, I can afford to miss a few days of school. Catching up is no problem for me."

Jounouchi snorted. "Ehh, just 'cause you're good at everything doesn't mean you have to rub it in! Well…almost everything. Your social skills could use some work."

"Puppy," remarked Seto.

Jounouchi scowled. A sudden squeal of laughter cut off any further argument, and everyone looked up to see Malik and Mokuba racing in from the beach. Malik held in his hands a large sand crab of about two inches in width not counting the legs. "Niisama! Look!" shouted Mokuba. "I found it!"

Malik held it up proudly to show, holding it carefully by the back of its shell so as not to get pinched. "Can we eat it?" asked Jounouchi.

"No!" said Malik. "I caught it! You can't have it!"

Remembering the unfortunate results of a certain duel with Yami Malik, Jounouchi made a grab for the wriggling creature. Malik jumped out of reach, but lost his hold on the crab. Everyone watched in surprise as it sailed through the air and landed neatly on Seto's T-shirt. He gave something that was a little short of a yelp and jumped up, dumping the crab onto the ground. Malik quickly dodged behind Yuugi.

Seto glared at the small form shivering behind Yuugi. Actually, Malik was trying very hard not to laugh, but Kaiba didn't realize that. "Niisama," pleaded Mokuba, tugging at the hem of his big brother's shirt. Seto hesitated, but reluctantly sat down again without a word. As soon as it was evident that there would be no sudden vengeance, Malik scuttled into the open and snatched up the escaping crab. 

"C'mon," said Mokuba. "Let's put him back."

"Okay."

The bigger kids smiled slightly (except for a still annoyed Kaiba) as they watched the two run off. "It's going to be different," said Mai softly.

"Yeah," said Jounouchi. "Isis'll be happy." He reflected on how glad he'd been when he saw Shizuka again.

Yuugi leaned back away from the fire. "Sure will be. I wonder how she'll take it that her little brother is…uh…very much a little brother now." They laughed, trying to imagine the look in Isis's face when she was reunited with Malik. 

"She'll be pleased, though," said Anzu.

"Of course."

Packing up was quite an event in itself. Jounouchi and Honda got into a furious argument as to how to fold up the boys' tent. While they shoved each other, Kaiba quietly put it away himself. They were going to leave the eggshell because nobody wanted to carry it on the bus, but Kaiba said he'd take it when his chauffeur drove him home in his limo. 

Everyone was finally packed up and waiting at the bus stop (except for the Kaiba brothers.) Malik, who had made up for missing the first day by spending as long as he could at the beach, was yawning by the time their ride arrived. On the way home, he fell asleep on Jounouchi's shoulder. The older boy would have been annoyed, except that he decided it was worth saving up the fact that Malik talked in his sleep. They sat like that the whole way, and Jounouchi decided that the little one didn't have enough interesting things to talk about yet. "Wait a few years," joked Honda in response to his complaint.

Yuugi decided he'd take Malik home with him at least for the time being. He had some room at his house, and the kid would be right at home with all the cards in the game shop. He was right. Malik's eyes lit up when he saw the shelves of duel monsters. Yuugi smiled to see him press his nose against the glass and let his eyes scan each one in turn. It took a little explaining to get Yuugi's grandpa to understand what was going on, but he agreed to let the kid stay for a while. The only thing was that Yuugi and Malik would share a room. Yuugi didn't mind and Malik was happy with a mattress on the floor, so it was fine. 

As soon as he was finished unpacking, Yuugi let Malik watch over his shoulder as he looked for Isis's new address. After an hour he was getting frustrated. He didn't have so much as a phone number for her in his directory or on the lists in his computer. Isis, in her state of grief and shock, had left for Egypt with no way to reach her again. "This is so not good," he muttered, closing the files.


	4. Dark Magician T shirts and a Hint of Plo...

"What's bad?" asked Malik, sitting on Yuugi's bed, swinging his legs and eating a cookie.

"I can't find any way to reach your big sister."

"Sister?"

"Yeah. Her name is Isis, and I'm sure she'll want to see you."

"Oh. Can I have your cookie?"

"Sure. Where do you think Isis might go if she went to Egypt?"

"Mmhrm…" responded Malik with his mouth full.

"Eh?"

Malik swallowed. "I dunno. I don't even remember her."

"Oh." 

He was quiet for a moment. "Can I call you Uncle Yuugi?"

Yuugi blinked. "Uh…why?"

"Because. And can I call your grandpa Jiichan too?"

"I…guess…"

Malik grinned. "Kay den."

Yuugi raised an eyebrow, but shrugged and looked back at his computer. "I give up," he muttered. "We'll have to think of another way to reach her…maybe someone else has an address or something." He dug in his dresser. "I'll have to see if any of my clothes at least sorta fit you, Malik. You didn't happen to get any extra outfits with all that jewelry, did you?"

There was no answer.

Yuugi turned around. "Malik?" Only cookie crumbs remained on the bed. "Uh…Malik, where'd you go?"

Suddenly, a giggling explosion of white burst out of the closet. Yuugi gave a yell and jumped back, only to realize it was Malik tangled in an old sheet. "I like this one," announced the little one, peeking through the eyeholes.

"You can't wear that," sighed Yuugi. "That was my Halloween costume from two years ago."

Malik poked his head out from under the fabric. "Really? You was a ghost?"

"It's 'were'. Yes, I were a gho-I mean, I was-oh, never mind."

Malik laughed and went back to the closet. "You wear these to school, Uncle Yuugi?" he asked, tugging at the neatly hung uniforms.

"Yup."

"Do I get to go to school, Uncle Yuugi?"

"Um…" Yuugi hadn't thought of that. "I don't know. Can you read?"

Malik grabbed a book off of Yuugi's shelf and stared at it for a while. "No."

Yuugi had an idea. "How about this?" He grabbed a paper and clumsily copied some of the hieroglyphics off of Malik's back. 

Malik looked at the paper. "Yeah. I can understand that. You write funny, though."

"Thanks. I guess you should go to school, though."

"Cool! And I get homework?"

"Yeah."

"Yay!"

Yuugi stared at the kid. "You like homework?"

"I dunno. What is it, Uncle Yuugi?"

Yuugi blinked a couple times. "You know, it's really weird what's stuck in your memory and what you forgot."

Malik, however, had disappeared into the closet again. "Hey, I like this T-shirt," he commented. "Can I have it?" He held up the item for Yuugi to see.

"Sorry," said Yuugi with a smile. "Not the one with the dark magician. It's my favorite."

"Aw…"

"Dinner!" yelled Sugoroku from another room.

"Yay!" yelled back Malik as he scooted from the room. 

Yuugi put the shirt neatly away before going to join them. "Well," he sighed, "I guess this is what it's like to have a little brother." Surprisingly enough, Malik exhibited very good table manners and didn't complain about the vegetables. Afterwards, Yuugi relented and allowed Malik to borrow the dark magician shirt for the night. As they were getting ready for lights out time, Yuugi pulled something from a drawer in the dresser and handed it to Malik.

The kid took it with a look of surprise. "K…koitsu," he murmured.

Yuugi nodded and smiled. "That's right. It's the Sennen Rod. It once belonged to you. Do you remember it?"

Malik ran his finger along its surface, and then pulled it apart in one smooth motion, revealing the blade within. Suddenly, he looked up at Yuugi with a strange gleam in his eyes. A slight grin twitched at the corners of his mouth, making Yuugi shiver. Then, in an instant it was gone. Yuugi blinked a few times, and then shrugged. It must have been his tired eyes playing tricks on him.


	5. Surgar, Movies, and Memories

The next morning, Yuugi stumbled into the kitchen to find Malik already enjoying a bowl of Cheerios (or something like that.) "Ohaiyou!" the little one called with a grin, waving his spoon in Yuugi's general direction. 

"Hnggh…" mumbled Yuugi, half-falling into his chair. 

Malik shook his head sympathetically. "Not a morning person?"

"No…" Yuugi let his head drop onto the table. 

"Oh. Hold on."

Yuugi heard the scrape of the chair as Malik got up. There were soft footsteps, a cupboard opening, and then something banged onto the table by his head. Yuugi half opened his eyes and tried to focus them on the object in front of his nose. 

"Try some," said Malik, pulling out a spoon. "It's really good."

Yuugi opened the container. "Malik, do you know what this is?"

"No…it's pretty and white, though," said the child, digging his spoon into the thousands of tiny crystals. "It tastes really good in cereal too!"

"I don't think you should be eating that plain…"

"Why not? Have some, Uncle Yuugi!"

"Malik!! This is called SUGAR!!"

Malik blinked and cocked his head. "Sh…sugar? I like it! Is there something wrong with that?"

Yuugi buried his face in his hands. It was way too early for this. "It…um…makes you…act weird…"

"Like when you talk in your sleep, Uncle Yuugi?"

Yuugi's head shot up. "What?"

"Well, you were saying something last night…um…something about wanting Shining Friendship for your deck, or something…"

Yuugi's head went down again. "This is so not happening…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. You're not going to tell anyone, got it?"

"Will you try the shigger, then?"

"It's called sugar, SUGAR. And no."

"Do I get more then?"

"Not now. Eat your cereal."

"Do I get to go to school?"

"Um…I'm not sure…"

"Do I get to wear one of your uniforms?"

"Uh…"

"Do I get to beat up the other kids if they laugh at me?"

"Why would they laugh?"

"Can I have some of your homework if I don't get any?"

"What??"

"You know that coffee stuff your grandpa has is really good too!"

"Huh??"

"Especially the…uh…uh…espresso stuff. Yeah, that's what it's called!"

"Oh no…"

"Is this bad too?"

"Yes…yes, it's very bad Malik."

"Worser than that you lost my sister?"

"That's just as bad. And I didn't lose her…I just can't find her! There's a difference."

"That line sound familiar."

"What?"

"Movies!"

"Huh?"

"Movies!" Malik doubled over laughing.

Yuugi blinked as what he had said registered in his half-awake brain. Figures that he would start accidentally quoting _The Mummy Returns_ to a resurrected kid originally from Egypt. "I'm going back to bed," he groaned. "Wake me up when it's tomorrow."

"But you have SCHOOL!! And I'm coming too!"

"This is so not good."

So it was that Yuugi found himself walking to school with a talking bundle of energy bouncing around him. Malik was wearing one of Yuugi's old uniforms that he had outgrown. (Yes, he HAS grown some.)

"So when we get there, you're gonna get me to my class?"

"Yeah…um…I'll have to check in at the office about that."

"Am I gonna be in YOUR classes, Uncle Yuugi?"

"No. You'll be in one of the kindergarten classes, Malik. That way you can learn to read and stuff."

"Do we get homework in kindergarten, Uncle Yuugi?"

"Um…"

"I hope so!"

"You still don't remember what homework is, do you?"

"Nope! Hey, who's that?"

Yuugi looked up to see Jounouchi walking towards him. 

"Hey, Yuugi! Oh, look who else is here. Howya doin' little guy?"

Malik scowled up fiercely at Jounouchi. "I 'member you! You wanted to eat my crab!"

Jounouchi laughed. "Oh…that. Nah, I didn't really."

Malik still looked highly suspicious. 

"Are you gonna come to our school?"

"Well, actually," Yuugi cut in, "he'll go to the elementary nearby."

"Oh," said Jounouchi. "He doesn't remember anything?"

"Not really. Some, though."

"Yeah!" put in Malik. "I wasn't born yesterday!"

"But less than two days ago," said Jounouchi with a grin, rubbing Malik's hair.

Malik scowled at him some more.


	6. School and Mysterious Letters

The whole process of getting Malik into a class was extremely complicated and confusing, mostly because Yuugi couldn't give any straight information to the lady in the office. Even if she had been one of the understanding type, it wasn't as if she'd believe the kid had come out of an egg a day or so earlier; yes, Malik was currently living with Yuugi; no, the kid didn't have parents as far as he knew; yes, he had living relatives, an adult sister; no, there was no way to contact her; no, he had no past grade records. But it somehow everything was worked out so that Malik could at least temporarily join one of kindergarten classes. A very exhausted Yuugi dropped a very excited Malik off at room 1-K quite a while later before heading off to his own classes.

Malik blinked at all of the other kids for a while until the teacher showed him his seat. The first thing on the agenda happened to be art. Each group of desks had a large tub of crayons, and each child received a large piece of paper. "Now, I want all of you to draw a bird," announced the teacher with a smile. "Try to make it so I can tell what it's doing, like flying or sitting in its nest. Okay?"

There was a general high-pitched chorus of "hai" from around the room, and then quiet as they began their masterpieces. After a few minutes, the teacher began to slowly walk around the room, glancing at all of the pictures forming. "That's lovely, Tsuruko, the clouds really show that it's flying in the sky… Nice, Hideto, you picked the colors very nicely…" and so on. 

Suddenly, a child in the corner raised her hand. "Sensei," she called, "the new kid is drawing an ugly bird."

Malik scowled at the tattletale. "It's NOT ugly! It's majestic."

"I never did say to make it a pretty bird," admitted the teacher as she walked over. "Let's see it."

Malik sat back to let the teacher see over his shoulder. "See?"

"Oh…my…"

Rendered in messy crayon, but definitely recognizable, was the God of Ra, its wings spread and its head thrown back in a screech of triumph. Half of the table's cadmium red crayon was smeared down Ra's front and dripped from its beak. "Well?" demanded Malik.

"Um…what exactly happened there?"

"Huh?"

She gestured at the crimson that dominated the picture.

Malik rolled his eyes disdainfully. "He just won a duel of the Shadow Games, of course. Nobody defeats Ra, nobody! I thought adding the loser in added to the effect." He gazed at the picture fondly with his large, violet eyes and brushed his fingers down the streaks of scarlet as if he could feel the feathers.

The teacher sighed in resignation. "That's very…nice, Malik."

Malik nodded and picked up the red crayon again, or what was left of it. "I still have to finish it."

"Do you ever draw happy birds, Malik?"

He cocked his head. "Happy birds? But Ra _is_ happy. He won his duel."

"All right, then."

At math, Malik finished his counting exercises before anyone else. The teacher glanced over his paper to check it, and then handed him a harder worksheet, this time with some addition. He finished that too. For the rest of the afternoon, Malik worked his way up the math levels until finally the teacher called the office to see if he could join another class for at least that subject. 

Poor Yuugi nearly fell out of his seat in shock when Malik arrived at his math class the period after lunch. As the kid slid into the much-too-big desk next to Yuugi, he whispered, "I guess I didn't forget this stuff."

Yuugi shook his head in awe. "I wish I could've gotten this far when I was two days old. Sure would've saved me a lot of homework."

Malik brightened. "That's right! We get homework in this class don't we? Say yes!"

Yuugi sighed as heads began turning their way. "Malik…"

Malik grabbed Yuugi's assignment sheet. "We do! Hooray!"

All heads were definitely facing the newcomer and Yuugi by now. Yuugi was an unusual shade of pink as he suddenly focused abnormally well on the lesson at hand. Malik sat close by, also studying the book. "I understand the problems," he whispered as the teacher droned on, "but I can't tell what else there is."

Yuugi looked up, surprised. "That's right, you can't read this."

Malik nodded. "It's not hieroglyphics."

"I don't believe this."

Yuugi's usual group of friends walked home with him and Malik that afternoon once school was over. Malik was busy outlining his day for everyone. "And did you know that the teachers' lounge has packets of sugar?"

"That's probably for the coff-hey, how do you know what's in the teacher's lounge?"

"I went it."

"You did??"

"Yeah."

"You're not supposed to!"

"Why not?"

"It's for the _teachers_, Malik."  
"So?"

"Never mind. Just…maybe stay out of there from now on."

"K. And at lunch Tsuyoshi blew bubbles in his milk with his straw, and it overflowed, and there were milk bubbles on the table. And Kimi spilled her ramen on the floor, and Akira slipped on it and fell down. And do you know what Tatsuo did with his French fries?"

"I don't think I want to know," said Anzu wearily. "The guys in my grade are bad enough."

"Like when it comes to playing basketball?" asked Yuugi, remembering a comment Anzu had once made.

"Yeah," she said, making a face.

Jounouchi scratched his head. "What's wrong with blowing bubbles in your milk?" he wondered.

"I dunno," said Honda.

"You guys get water when we get to Yuugi's then," said Anzu.

A few minutes later, they walked into the game shop to Yuugi's usual "Jiichan! Tadaima!!"

Sugoroku smiled at them from behind the counter where he was organizing a new card display. "Welcome! Oh, Yuugi, you got a letter in the mail today."

"I did?" Yuugi looked puzzled. "From whom?"

"I don't know," replied his grandpa. "Check." He handed the envelope to Yuugi as the other crowded around to see.

"Open it!"

"Yeah!"

"But who would write a letter to Yuugi?"

"At least it's not a video tape from some big company that would never bother with teens."

"Tell me about it. Remember last time?"

"Do I ever."

"Honda! Jounouchi! Urusai! Let him open the thing in peace!"

Yuugi carefully slid his fingers beneath the seal and lifted the flap to reveal a single sheet inside.


	7. Mommy Yami and Hide and Seek

"Who…?" started Honda, and then they all saw the neat, flowing signature at the very bottom.

Isis Ishtar

Yuugi's hands were suddenly shaking. His eyes seemed barely to see the words as he read the brief letter. 

"Well?" asked Anzu, who had at least enough manners not to read Yuugi's mail over his shoulder. 

"She…she says she might be coming back-"

"That's wonderful! Then, Malik-"

"In ten years."

"Oh."

Yuugi scanned the rest. "She wants me to write back! I'll be able to tell her about Malik, then!"

"Wha' 'bou' me?" came a muffled voice from the back of the store.

They looked up to see the youngster walk in with a cookie in his mouth, two in his right hand and the whole jar in his left.

"Hey!" shouted Jounouchi. "No fair! I want cookies too!"

"Mine," stated Malik. At that, the cookie in his mouth nearly tumbled to the floor; he talked no more for a while.

"Please?"

Malik glared and chewed at the same time.

"Malik," ordered Yuugi, "put those back this instant. You'll ruin your dinner."

The child saluted sharply with two cookies still in his hand and marched out of the room. They watched him go, and then everyone except Yuugi burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You…" Anzu took a deep breath to calm herself, "you sound just like a dad, Yuugi. I think having a little kid around is doing you good."

"Naw," said Jounouchi. "He sounds like a mom!"

"Hey!"

_/Nice going, Aibou!/_ came a voice from within.

__

\You stay out of this!\ snapped Yuugi inwardly.

"So what were we talking about?" asked Honda.

Jounouchi pointed to the letter.

"That's right. Um…return address. There has to be one on here if she requested I write back." He looked at the envelope. Aside from the stamp and his address, there was no other mark. He looked at both sides of the letter paper and the inside of the envelope. "No…no…I don't believe this…" He slid to his knees with a sigh of despair.

"What is it?"

"She…she forgot to put a return address… I must have been an awful brat when I was little to deserve this."

"You mean, when you were littl_er_," put in Jounouchi with a teasing grin.

"Hey!" protested Yuugi. "I hit 4'6" last month."

"I rest my case."

Soft footsteps entering the room made everyone look up. Stepping furtively past the older kids, Malik attempted to sneak the cookie jar into the room he shared with Yuugi. He stopped abruptly as all eyes came to rest on him. He stood frozen for a moment, and then suddenly turned he back to them. "I can't see you; you can't see me. I can't see you; you can't see me," he murmured softly like a chanted charm.

Joey and Honda stifled their laughter, and Anzu rolled her eyes. Yuugi, however, transformed quickly into Yami. "The pharaoh sees all, Malik," he said sternly, though his eyes laughed. "Now put those back before you spoil your appetite."

"Aww…" But Malik obeyed.

_\I must be rubbing off on you, Yami.\_

/What? Did I…augh, I did tell him not to ruin his dinner. You'll be the death of my royal dignity, Aibou/

\It'll do you good.\

A little later, Malik walked out of the kitchen. "You know what else we learned today?"

"No," said Yuugi putting the letter in his pocket. "What did you learn?"

"We learned a new game."

"Okay…"

"It's called hide and seek."

"I loved that game in kindergarten," mused Jounouchi. "It came in handy when I was in trouble."

"You know how to play?" asked Malik delightedly. "Then you can't be that bad after all."

"Thanks, kid."

"Do you know how to play, Uncle Honda?"

"Uncle…Honda…?"

"Yeah! Do you?"

"Um…yeah…"

"Good! Let's try! Who wants to be the looker?"

"Yuugi!" volunteered Jounouchi.

"Me?"

"Kay! Count to six million three hundred ninety-two thousand seven hundred and eleven!"

"N…nani?"

"Or twenty if you really don't want to count that high."

"Okay."

"Good. Are you playing too, Auntie Anzu?"

"Um…if everyone else is, I guess…"

"Yay! Start counting, Uncle Yuugi!"

Yuugi obliged, wondering the whole time how he had allowed himself to be talked into this. By the time he finished, the house was silent except for his own voice counting quietly. As soon as he finished, he began to search, trying for the likeliest places first. He found Jounouchi first, lying contentedly in the space between the couch and the floor. He was reading an old duel monsters magazine that Yuugi had forgotten a long time ago. 

"Wow, this is old, Yuugi! It's talking about some young guy named Seto Kaiba who looks like he has promise at dueling."

Yuugi laughed. "Really? I should clean under there more often."

"No kidding," Jounouchi said, giving a small sneeze. "We can vacuum later."

Anzu was next, sitting on a windowsill with the drapes pulled shut in front of her. Then they found Honda crouched in a space between a bookshelf and the wall. "I don't believe the things we do for this kid," he muttered, stretching himself out. "I'll get rheumatism before my time we have to play much more of this."

"No kidding," said Anzu.

"We still have to find Malik."

They spent the next ten minutes in fruitless searching. "That little guy is good!" exclaimed Jounouchi after combing the house for the third time. 

"No kidding!" said Anzu. "He is the smallest of us all, you know."

"Not by much," grinned Honda, looking pointedly at Yuugi.

Yuugi ignored the comment and sat thinking. "Where would he be hiding?"

Sudden footsteps answered their questions. Malik ran into the room and rushed over to Yuugi. He threw his arms around the older boy and clung there, trembling. "What's the matter?" asked Anzu.

Malik's eyes were wide. "The cupboard I was hiding in is on fire."


	8. Fire, Hello Kitty, and Ice Cream Sandwic...

"WHAT???" Yuugi jumped up, and everyone raced into the kitchen. Smoke drifted from one of the upper cupboards. As Jounouchi and Honda ran to get pots of water, Yuugi turned to Malik. "You were in the cupboard where I keep the matches, weren't you?"

"Matches?"

"The little sticks of wood that ignite when you rub them against the box."

"I…ignite?"

"Go BOOM!" put in Jounouchi, dousing the small fire.

"Well, catch fire is more like it."

Realization dawned on Malik's face. "Those! Yeah!"

Yuugi sighed. "Okay. One of the first things you should learn, Malik, is 'never play with matches.' It's dangerous."

Malik shrugged. "Fire is pretty."

Yuugi blinked a couple of times. "But you could hurt somebody! Look!" He gestured to the blackened spot on the shelf. 

Big tears welled up in Malik's large violet eyes. "I'm sorry…" he sniffled.

"Yuugi!" chided Honda as the tears trickled down Malik's face, "you made the kid cry!"

Yuugi took a deep breath and counted to ten. "I'm just trying to teach him…"

Anzu picked up Malik and rocked him comfortingly. "There, there…"

Jounouchi leaned on the counter. "Well, that was exciting. Hey…here's the cookies!"

In an instant, Malik had shot from Anzu's arms and snatched the cookie jar out of Jounouchi's reach. "Mine!" he snapped, scowling and completely back to his old self.

Honda shook his head. "Don't worry, Yuugi. I think he'll be fine."

Yuugi put a hand on his forehead. "What about me? If it takes ten years for Isis to come and get him, I'll be old way before my time."

At that moment, Sugoroku walked in. "Is something burn-ah! Yuugi! How many times have I told you not to play with matches??!"

"I didn't…" Thoroughly annoyed, Yuugi stalked from the kitchen. He was a little more forgiving, though, when it came to homework. It was the next evening, in fact, that Yuugi found himself killing his brain over algebra while Malik bounced on the bed and tried to touch the ceiling. "Are you done with your homework already?" snapped Yuugi in disbelief. 

"Yep. I finish' a while 'go."

"Then come over and help me!"

"Kay." Malik slid off the bed and walked over to the desk. "Hmmm… It's because you distrib'ted the fraction power over these…"

"So?"

"Canna…they're in p'rentheses, and they're 'ddition. Only with timesing."

"Multiplication."

"Yeah. Then do this…" Malik grabbed the pencil and scribbled some numbers and functions down "…and this…and this…and your answer's simple!"

Yuugi blinked a few times. "H…how did you do that??"  
"Just work it out," said Malik, scampering off. 

Yuugi shook his head and went back to staring at the problem. Five seconds later, he heard a series of thumps reminiscent to a drum roll and then one final crash. He leapt up to investigate and found Malik lying in a peculiar position at the bottom of the stairs against the wall. Several paperback books had tumbled off the shelf above and now lay scattered about and on the child. "Malik! What on earth…"

Malik stood up tipsily. "I…I was going towards the stairs, and I saw my favorite pencil on the floor, and I bent to pick it up, but I forgot to stop running, and then I was right here!"

"You fell down the stairs."

"No! I was going _towards_ the stairs, and I saw my favorite pencil on the floor, and I bent to pick it up, but I forgot to stop running, and then I was right here! I didn't fall." He rubbed the back of his head. "And I have a bump…"

Yuugi put his hand where Malik indicated and found a large goose egg indeed. "Come on," he sighed. "Let's put some ice on that." The walked to the kitchen, where Yuugi rummaged through the freezer. "So you've got a favorite pencil already, huh?"

"Yep. It's purple with a sort of gold-ish color-"

"Figures."

"-and it has Hello Kitty on it."

Yuugi hit his head on the freezer shelf above the one he was searching. "Itai!" he yelped, clutching the sore spot.

Malik grinned. "You need ice too, now?"

"Did you say HELLO KITTY???"

"Yeah…so…"

Yuugi shook his head. "You've changed a lot."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Hey! Ice cream sandwiches! Can I have one?"

"Um…I guess…"

"Yay! You don't need to get me ice, ya know."

"But…"

"Oh, have an ice cream sandwich too! Forget about the other stuff."


	9. History Repetes Itself

"Okay." Yuugi sat down at the table with Malik. Maybe having a little kid around the house wasn't so bad after all. Five minutes later, he was reconsidering that decision as he watched Malik bounce around on an incredible sugar high, melted ice cream residue and chocolate still smeared across his face. 

" 'nother one, Uncle Yuugi?"

"NO."

"Please??"

"No."

Malik bounced where he stood as he tried to think of a way to persuade the older boy to allow him some more ice cream. "Then can we go to the park?"

"It's dark already."

"So? There's streetlights." Malik added, jumping onto a chair.

"It's raining."

"So? That's better."

Yuugi sighed. He wasn't going to get any peace. "Tell you what, I'll sit by the door and do homework while you go and run up and down the street a couple times. Sound good?"

Malik looked a little crestfallen. "You won't run with me?"

"No."

"All right then. Let's go!"

"Wait! What about a coat…" But Malik was gone.

By the time Yuugi got to the door, the younger boy was already running up and down the street, laughing as the rain spattered on his face and clothes. He hadn't bothered to put on his shoes, and instead let his bare feet splash superbly in the puddles. Yuugi sighed and watched from the doorway, half wishing he were young enough to join Malik instead of reading up on the sentence structures of the English language.

He watched as the little one experimented with the various types of splashes he could make depending on the angle with which he came down on the water. He couldn't help but smile as the youngster overdid a rather extreme jump and ended up sitting suddenly and ungracefully in the middle of a rather large puddle. He got up again immediately, of course, soaking wet and with smears of dirt all over. He shook himself once and bounced off to another puddle.

Suddenly, all at once, two brilliant white swords of light slashed through the rain and whipped about the corner. The car came in a blur, speeding down the road in front of the game shop in some unknown race. Malik stood staring as it approached, unable to move. 

Yuugi's English book fell to the floor as he jumped up. "MALIK!!!!"

The car passed and screeched around another corner, vanishing from sight. 

Standing out in the rain now, Yuugi frantically scanned the concrete and asphalt. For an instant, he saw nothing but water and the dead hardness of the road. The streetlight flickered momentarily and he thought he saw a body in the street, but it was only shadows. Then he saw him, crouching on the sidewalk-not the road, his hands over his head.

Yuugi raced over to the boy and found he was shaking uncontrollably. "The…the car…" whimpered Malik. 

"I know, I know…I saw it. You're not hurt, are you?"

Malik shook his head. "It didn't touch me…but I saw something all the sudden. I saw the front of a car rushing towards me, I thought I saw you standing in the road…I thought I was going to die!!" He buried his face in his hands, shivering but not crying.

"Maybe…maybe you should come inside now."

Malik's lip trembled. "It's…c-c-cold…"

"You're all wet, that's why. Come on."

They walked in together, and Yuugi was very glad that the store had tile instead of carpet on the floor. He made sure Malik got a hot shower and changed into dry clothes (the kid demanded the dark magician T-shirt again). They sat by the window afterwards, wrapped in blankets and watching the rain while sipping hot chocolate. Malik was quiet, poking silently at the marshmallows with a careful finger before picking them out and eating them. 

"Are you okay?" asked Yuugi finally, to break the silence.

Malik nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

Yuugi shrugged. "You just seem really quiet. Are you thinking about something?"

Malik nodded again. "Lots of things, really." He took a sip, slurping a little. "Yuugi, what is my sister like?"

Yuugi thought about that for a while. "It's hard to say. She's more than she seems at first."

The little boy cocked his head. "But, Uncle Yuugi, isn't everyone?"

Yuugi smiled slightly, surprised by the insightful comment. "I guess so. She was nice, not given to a lot of talking. She was kind of cautious sometimes, and at other times ruthless…like in duels. She almost beat Seto once."

"Seto?"

"Kaiba Seto, the one who was camping with us when we found you."

"With the whitish-purple hair that stuck out everywhere?"

"No, that was Bakura. Kaiba has brown hair…he's Mokuba's big brother."

Recognition dawned on Malik's face. "Oh, him! He was kind of grumpy."

Yuugi shook his head. "He's not that bad, really. I just suppose he didn't like sand crabs landing suddenly on his shirt."

Malik shook his head, spraying droplets of water from his hair. "I don't see why not. It didn't pinch him.


	10. A Slight Fever and Frequent Sneezing

"Well…some people just don't like that."

"Oh…okay… He's weird."

Yuugi stared out the window, trying to be patient. 

Malik drained his mug of cocoa and gave a huge yawn. 

"Tired?"

"No! I'm not sleepy…" Malik rested his head against the windowpane, his eyes drooping shut little by little.

"Bedtime," said Yuugi, standing up. 

"No…no bed…"

"Come on." Yuugi led the yawning child to their room and put him to bed. By the time he turned out the lights, Malik was fast asleep, curled up beneath his blanket. 

The next morning, though, the child didn't want to get out of bed. "Don't you want to go to school?" asked Yuugi.

"No, wanna stay here," responded Malik, shivering beneath his blankets. "You can have my homew-ACHOO!!"

Yuugi put his hand on the boy's forehead. It was rather warm, so he pulled out the thermometer. Sure enough, Malik had a slight fever on top of the frequent sneezing. Yuugi shook his head. "I guess you will be staying home today. And I won't be letting you run around in the rain anymore. Jiichan can take care of you until I get home, okay?"

"Okay," murmured Malik, burrowing down into the covers again.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink before I go?"

"No…"

"All right. I'll bring up some tea, though, so it'll be there if you change your mind."

"Domo…"

As usual, Yuugi's gang of friends walked home with him after school. Upon their arrival, Sugoroku informed them that Malik had not gotten up from bed all day.

"You mean he just lies there??" asked Jounouchi incredulously. "And you haven't called an ambulance???"

"No, I gave him some medicine, though."

"But if THAT KID hasn't moved, then something must be really wrong."

"It's just a cold, Jounouchi," said Yuugi. "I'm going up to check on him."

"Me too."

"And me!"

"And me."

"Me three."

Yuugi blinked. "Everyone? I didn't think any of you cared much about him."

Anzu looked indignant. "Of course we do! Any friend of yours is a friend of ours."

"Not counting Seto," put in Jounouchi. "And actually, I just don't want to be left behind if you guys are going somewhere."

"It's just upstairs."

"I know."

"Yeah," said Honda, though no one could be quite sure to which statement he was agreeing. So they all went up to the second floor. The light in Yuugi's room was off, and the teacup sat empty and cold outside the door. 

"Malik," whispered Yuugi, "are you awake?"

TBC

R&R


	11. Eleven Cookies, a Bowl of Ramen and Seve...

A loud sneeze and a sniffle answered him. Malik raised his head and squinted at them. "Whad are dey doing here?" he demanded, the congestion interfering with his speech a little.

"They wanted to see if you were doing all right. Feeling any better?"

"Make dem go 'way," groaned Malik, rolling over.

"Oh, that's real nice," complained Jounouchi, crossing his arms indignantly. 

"Is there anything you want?" asked Yuugi, starting to leave.

Malik jabbed a small arm from underneath his pile of blankets. "Cookie."

"Well, he can't be that sick then," concluded Honda. "Not if he still wants cookies."

"I want a cookie too," said Jounouchi.

"Mine." Came a muffled voice from the sickbed.

Yuugi smiled to himself. "I'll bring one up. You just rest, okay?"

"Okay." Another sneeze.

"Do you want more tea?" asked Anzu, picking up the cup.

"Yeah…please…"

Jounouchi's eyes widened. "I'll be! The little savage has manners!"

"Oh, come on. Let's leave him alone."

When they came up again ten minutes later with a cookie, Malik was on Yuugi's bed, looking through another game magazine from the pile in the corner of the room and humming tunelessly to himself. He still had all the blankets from his own bed, though. "Ano…what are you doing?" asked Yuugi.

Malik grinned cheerfully at him, sounding a little better. "I'm getting germs on the covers so you'll get sick and stay home with me. It was very boring today."

Yuugi sighed. "I don't think so. You're going to school again tomorrow. Now get on your own bed."

"Can I-?"

"Yes, you may take the magazine to look at."

"Yay!"

"Oh, hold on," Jounouchi dug in his pockets and finally pulled out several very crumpled papers. "Here, kid. The teacher sent your homework."

Malik's eyes widened. "They DO that?"

"Yeah…sorry…"

"That's so nice!!" He grabbed the papers and bounced as best he could while still having to stop and blow his nose in between.

Jounouchi and Honda slowly backed away. "He's lost it."

"Really."

Malik did his homework in bed that evening, ate eleven cookies, a bowl of ramen, and drank seventeen cups of tea. He would have liked another three cookies, but Yuugi thought it was enough. He was up bright an early the next morning, beating Yuugi's alarm clock for volume with a particularly strong sneeze. "I get to go to school today, Uncle Yuugi!"

TBC

R&R


	12. Fine Antses

Yuugi groaned and slid from the bed. He was glad Malik was better, but he missed the lower energy levels in the morning. They got out of the house well on time, though, and headed off for school. Malik still seemed a little congested, but he was cheerful enough. They managed to arrive at school just as the Kaiba brothers were getting out of their limousine, and Malik and Mokuba immediately decided to walk together to the elementary side of Domino. Yuugi nodded amicably at Seto as he walked off to his classes, and Seto inclined his head ever so slightly in return. 

The two youngsters, however, were having a much better time. "…an' Uncle Yuugi brought me tea and cookies, an' Uncle Jounouchi brought me homework!"

Mokuba nodded. "Yeh. When I get sick, the maids do what I ask and come when I ring. Sometimes I yell for room service to get their attention, too. And Seto always gets so worried. It's really funny."

"Do you get cookies?"

"Yeah, and anything I want, just about."

"Wow. That's awesome."

"I know."

"Hey, do you guys get lots of homework?"

"Tons. Fifth grade is very, very stressful."

"I'm glad I'm in kindergarten. But we get lots of homework too."

Mokuba shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly. "Nope. You haven't seen tons of homework until you reach fifth grade. Sometimes I stay up until eight-thirty trying to finish it!!"

Malik's eyes widened. "No!"

"Yes. The teachers are ruthless."

"What's that mean?"

"Ruthless?"

"Yeah."

"I dunno. I just hear Seto use it sometimes. It's a cool word."

"Yeah. What else does he say?"

"I don't remember. Lots of stuff about money and finances."

"Fine antses?"

"I don't know. It's just what he says."

"Oh."

"Hey, do you sing?"

"Sing? What brought that on?"

"I dunno. Just, Yuugi has a lot of CDs in his room and I was playing some of them. I think it would be cool to be able to sing."

"Um…I bet I could. Can you?"

"Dunno. I never tried."

"Me neither. Hey, tell you what: you all can come over on Friday after school and you an' me can sing if you bring some of Yuugi's CDs."

"Uncle Yuugi can come too?"

"Sure!"

"And Uncle Jounouchi and Uncle Honda? And Auntie Anzu?"

"Anyone you want. My house is huge!"

"And Uncle Bakura, too."

"Okay." Mokuba looked up at the clock on the wall. "I gotta go now, see you Friday! Bye!"

Malik waved back. "Bye!"

TBC

R&R


	13. Uncle Pharaoh

Friday afternoon came, and everyone Malik had listed off was coming too. And Mokuba had definitely been telling the truth when he said his house was big. All eyes widened considerably as the friends approached the Kaiba mansion. Yuugi knocked politely on the door, which was answered by a maid.

"We're here to see Mokuba," announced Malik, completely confident.

The maid nodded and allowed them into the small entrance room. "I'll go inform him."

She left, and thirty seconds later and explosion rocked the mansion…or so they though.

It was actually Seto. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MUTOU YUUGI AND A BUNCH OF HIS FRIENDS ARE IN MY HOUSE???"

But Mokuba reached them first. "You're here!" he cried delightedly. "This is great! Niisama will be-uh oh. I forgot to tell Niisama you were coming." As if on cue, the older Kaiba suddenly burst into the room. Yuugi smiled sheepishly. Malik was already chattering away with Mokuba. And everyone else looked like they were trying to decide whether or not to run for their lives. "Niisama, I invited my friends over today," said Mokuba, suddenly realizing the quandary the others were in. 

Seto looked slightly appeased, but still not happy. "And how long might they be staying?"

"Till nine."

Seto breathed a sigh of resignation. "I'll be in my office until nine-thirty. And you," he looked pointedly at Jounouchi, "had better not clean out the pantry."

Jounouchi looked affronted. "Of course not! Why…why would I-you guys have a pantry? Can I see?"

"It's not very interesting," said Mokuba. "It's just a really big room full of food."

Honda's eyes were glazing over dreamily. "It sounds great…"

Jounouchi wiped his mouth on the back of his sleeve. "I'd love to check it out sometime…"

"I'll give you guys a tour of the place," offered Mokuba. 

Before anyone answered, there was a bright gleam of light, and Yami stood among them. "So this is Seto Kaiba's house," he said, looking about. "Not quite like my palace, but not too bad either."

Malik grinned. "Pharaoh! You're here too!"

Yami smiled. "Yes. I thought this was too good of an opportunity to miss. But you don't have to be so formal."

"'kay den. Let's go, Uncle Pharaoh!"

Yami looked surprised by the new title, but since everyone else was laughing, he smiled too. 

TBC

R&R


	14. Singin'

Sorry for the delays ^.^;

After ten minutes of wandering hallways and climbing up and down stairs, everyone felt dizzy at the least. Mokuba seemed completely unfazed, though, and finally flung open a large, carved pair of doors to reveal a large room with several couches and a few beanbag chairs. Plastic cupboards lined the wall, some larger than others. It was a predominantly white room, and splashes of tactful color made it bright and cheerful. 

"Is this your playroom, Mokuba?" asked Jounouchi, looking around with his hands in his pockets.

"Technically, it's supposed to be. I prefer to call it my 'hanging out room,'" replied Mokuba, sounding as if he felt very grown up.

Everyone stifled a giggle except for Malik, who nodded in perfect understanding.

"No offense," said Jounouchi, still inspecting the room, "but you don't have much of interest in here."

Mokuba grabbed a remote from a shelf and held it up. "See this?" he said. "Watch." So saying, he pressed one of the buttons, and a particular cupboard slid open on its own to reveal a giant flat-screen TV. Various game systems and their corresponding games lined the shelves below. Another button opened yet another cupboard, which held the very latest in Kaiba Corp computers. 

Everyone stared open mouthed, no one making a sound.

"Try it," said Mokuba, handing the remote to Malik.

Malik held it eagerly and pressed a random button. This opened yet another cupboard, this one containing a sound system bigger than any of the guests had thought possible. Malik handed the remote off to Yuugi. He hit another button and the TV flashed on to Zoids. Jounouchi and Honda immediately plopped down on the nearest couch to watch. 

"That's really cool!" exclaimed Malik, examining the remote. "It can do everything."

"Yep," agreed Mokuba. "It can even pull apart and become a Swiss Army Knife."

"No way!"

Mokuba laughed. "Not really," he admitted, "but pretty close. It's only a switchblade."

Bakura's hair spiked suddenly and he grabbed the remote. "How's it do that?" he asked, his voice suddenly different.

"I was joking," said Mokuba.

"Oh." Bakura looked disappointed and handed the object back to the younger boy. He put it back on the shelf and bounced over to the sound system. 

"Kay, Malik, where're the CDs?"

Malik dropped a backpack onto the floor and opened it. Several CDs spilled out onto the floor. Yuugi looked over his shoulder. "Wow, Malik, where'd you get all those? Hey, wait, I have that one…and that one…and, wait, these are mine!"

"Yep. I borrowed them. We're going to sing, Uncle Yuugi!"

"You're WHAT??" Jounouchi and Honda's heads turned in unison, the horrified expressions on their faces nearly identical. 

"Sing, of course," said Malik, sorting through the CDs.

"Bother," muttered Mokuba, pulling at some wires.

"What?"

"I'm trying to remember which wire connects the karaoke machine to the speakers. I haven't used it in a while."

"Hey, there's a plug-like thing in the wall. Try that."

"Okay." 

Malik picked up a microphone. "Testing…1…2…3…"

"It's not doing anything."

"Turn up the volume."

"Okay."

"Helloooooooo!!"

In his office, Seto Kaiba raised his head and looked about. He was sure he had heard voices, but no one was around. He had locked the door. He shook his head. Maybe the doctor was right, maybe the stress was starting to get to him. 

And then the voice got louder…a lot louder.

"HELLOOOOOOOO!!"

Seto nearly jumped out of his seat. Thinking quickly, though, he grabbed the phone and dialed the number for Mokuba's playroom.

Down a few floors, everyone heard a faint ringing. Mokuba ran and grabbed the remote. 

"It's a phone _too??_" asked Jounouchi incredulously.

"Only connected within the house," said Mokuba, putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Mokuba," Seto hissed, working to control his extreme irritation, "take the plug out of the intercom."

Mokuba's mouth dropped open. "Oh, is that which plug it was? I forgot how to get the karaoke machine connected to the speakers…uh, huh…okay. Got it. Thanks, Niisama."


	15. M an' M

He hung up and went back over to the mass of wires. "See, we have a loudspeaker that can connect through the whole house. That's what the plug was for. The wires actually go like…this!" He stepped back, admiring his handiwork.

"TESTING…ONE…TW-"

"Turn the volume down!" protested Jounouchi, his hands over his ears. 

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

They finally got everything together enough so that they could stick in a CD and it actually played. But everyone had forgotten one rather important factor. Malik was no longer a teenager, and therefore no longer had the voice of a teenager. No, now he was the perfect boy choir soprano, and apparently only he knew it. This they discovered when he decided to try to improvise during an instrumental and effortlessly hit a high C. Jounouchi, startled, jumped and nearly fell off the couch. Everyone else settled for merely gaping at the youngster now giggle by the karaoke machine. Even Anzu admitted she couldn't sing that high. 

"Now I get to try it with the microphone!" exclaimed Malik excitedly.

"Oh no, please," groaned Jounouchi, rubbing his ears. 

The rest of the afternoon passes rather uneventfully. Mokuba and Malik started out sounding, shall we say, less than beautiful. It was the type of sound that made Jounouchi and Honda turn up the TV volume. As time wore on, though, they improved considerably; they both could carry a tune by dinnertime. 

"You two are really starting to sound…um…better," said Honda as they followed Mokuba down to the dining room. (Strangely enough, Seto had made it clear that he would be taking supper in his office.) 

"Yeah," added Jounouchi. "Pretty soon we're going to have to come up with a band name for you guys."

"Something catchy," agreed Anzu. "Maybe we could take advantage of the alliteration between your names."

"Uh huh," mused Honda. "Malik and Mokuba…Mokuba and Malik…"

"M&Ms?" suggested Malik, licking his lips at the thought of chocolate.

"M an' M…" Jounouchi turned the letters over in his mouth thoughtfully.

"Em_an_em!" laughed Honda suddenly.

"Shh," warned Anzu. "We're going to get sued by the Americans."

"But I changed it a little," protested Honda.

The two new "celebrities" finally decided on using an Egyptian phrase that translated roughly to "The Inspiring Singers Malik and Mokuba, Who Are Really Cool and Talented and Awesome. Yeah, That's It." The downside was that nobody but Malik could pronounce it, and even he forgot after about five minutes.

Dinner was an interesting affair. Mokuba had obviously warned the cook in advance, because there was enough for all. "I should have reminded Seto at the same time," he sighed, watching as a maid disappeared out the kitchen door with a tray. Not surprisingly, Seto had decided to take his meal in his office. Jounouchi and Honda ate everything they could get their hands on with little regard for manners. To everyone's immense surprise, Malik had the most etiquette of them all. He even beat out Anzu, who rested her elbows on the table momentarily when she was done. 

They all stayed right until nine, holding video game tournaments and taking turns on the karaoke machine. Yami Bakura took over his host's body and spent the evening toying with the remote, still convinced that there was a switchblade hidden somewhere in there.

But when Seto emerged from his office at half-past nine, the house was quiet as promised. He grabbed a cup of coffee from the kitchen and walked through the dining room. He was just at the door when he thought he heard something suspiciously like laughter. He stopped.

"The dragon," a small voice whispered out of nowhere.

Definite giggles followed.

"Shh…he'll hear you," chided another voice, followed by a soft munching sound and chuckles from both voice.

Seto slowly walked back into the dining room, looking around carefully.

"Shh! He's not supposed to know you're here."

Giggles.

More munching.

By now, Seto was quite sure the "mysterious voices" were not in his head, but were instead coming from under the dining room table. He remembered when he had first moved in and seen it, it had struck him as an excellent hiding place. Of course, now he was sixteen and much too old for that…but Mokuba wasn't. Slowly, he knelt down and lifted up the edge of the long tablecloth. 


	16. Isis

He found himself face to face with both Malik and Mokuba, each with a helmet made of a colander, cardboard armor, and a plastic replica of Frodo Baggins' sword Sting, in addition to a large bowl of popcorn. For a moment, all three boys stared at one another, and then Malik let out a high-pitched shriek that made both Kaibas wince. "The dragon found us! It found us! Run!" So saying, he overturned the bowl of popcorn at Seto and scrambled madly from under the table and out the door. 

"Hey!" called Mokuba, "I thought knights are supposed to fight the dragon! Wait up!" With a hurried apology to his brother about the popcorn, Mokuba raced after Malik and up the stairs. 

Seto did not feel like playing a giant game of hide and seek through the whole mansion, so he grudgingly let Malik sleep over. It wasn't as if they didn't have room in the house. 

Days passed and turned into weeks, and Yuugi had given up looking for a way to contact Isis. He was getting used to having somewhat of a little brother around, although it was certainly a lot more work. Malik had found he had a passion for loud, unintelligible music, and enjoyed making the window rattle while he sang, er, yelled along. He continued to get better grades in Algebra than even Yuugi, and scared his kindergarten class with ancient Egyptian legends of doom. 

All in all, everything was running pretty smoothly, which naturally means that something unexpected was about to happen. And of course, it did. 

It was a normal day at the game shop. Malik was blasting some sort of rap music, while Sugoroku yelled for Yuugi to turn the music down. Yuugi was trying to protest that it wasn't him, but nobody could hear what anybody else was saying. It was during this chaos that an important-looking black car pulled up in front of the shop. 

"Customer!" bellowed Sugoroku, who was cleaning up lunch dishes.

"I'll get it!" called back Yuugi, slamming the door to his room and shutting some of Malik's music in. He raced out to the counter and looked expectantly out through the glass door. His mouth dropped open, and he blinked a few times to make sure he was seeing correctly. Walking up to the door was Isis Ishtar. Half crying from shock and relief, he bolted out to meet her. "Isis!"

"Yuugi," she smiled slightly. "It's good to see you again."

"But what are you doing back here?" he managed to say.

"I have a contact here who told me there was a some artifact for sale from a private collection. I came to see, and I thought I'd just drop by while I was in town. Why didn't you answer my letter?"

"No return address."

"Oh. Really? Sorry about that."

"It's okay. But there's something I really wanted to tell you-"

They were interrupted as a second floor window flew open, and Malik stuck his head out, releasing his loud music to the entire neighborhood. "Uncle Yuugi! I got chocolate on my shirt. Can you wash it?" With that, he flung the shirt out the window, where it landed neatly on Yuugi's head. 

He pulled it off and inspected it. The dark magician now had smears of chocolate all over it. "Well," sighed Yuugi, "I guess that's his shirt now."

"Who was that?" asked Isis. "Have you guys adopted a kid or something since I left?"


	17. I Don't Know You

"I'll show you," said Yuugi. "Come on." He led Isis upstairs and into the room he shared, immediately turning down the volume of the radio, much to Malik's dismay. Isis walked in to see a small, tanned blond with no shirt currently engaged in a tug-of-war with Yuugi over the cookie jar. "That's more than enough sugar," the older boy was saying.

"Mine!" insisted the little one.

"Not now," said Yuugi firmly. "Now say hello to Isis."

Malik turned sulkily to her. "'lo," he muttered.

She walked slowly up to him and put a hand under his chin so that he looked up at her. Wiping away some of the chocolate, she stared hard at his face. "What's your name?" she asked softly, almost incredulously.

He pushed her hand away and wiped the rest of the chocolate on the back of his wrist. "Malik," he said almost defiantly, as if daring her to laugh at it.

She didn't, of course. Her eyes just went very wide as she put her hands on his shoulders and leaned back to get a good look at him. He grinned a little at her surprised expression. "I gots writing on my back, too. That's more interesting than my messy face."

With a soft gasp, Isis turned him about and stared at the scars. "How…?" she gasped out.

"We, uh, got him out of a giant egg. Kaiba still has the shell at his place, I think," said Yuugi, perfectly aware of how ridiculous he sounded.

With a soft sort of sigh, Isis passed out right on the floor.

She did come to a little while later, after which everything had to be explained all over again. When they finally made her sort of understand, she cried a bucketful and hugged Malik until he made exaggerated choking sounds and declared loudly that his face was turning blue. 

Yuugi invited Isis to join them for dinner, and she accepted. She ate in silence, watching Malik shovel in massive amounts of food despite the many cookies he had had before. "He even eats like he used to," she said quietly as Malik drained his glass of water. 

"You'll be taking him back with you?" asked Yuugi.

She finished her food and leaned back a little. "I suppose. I figure he'd want to go back to being with family. I'm really the only relative he has."

Malik looked up at her. "You're taking me away?" he asked quietly.

"Don't you want to go to Egypt? It's where you were born, where you grew up. It's your home."

Malik pulled a cookie from his pocket and began munching on it. "Yuugi said I was born at the beach two months ago."

"…"

"And I don't want to go away. I like it _here._ I like Domino."

Isis reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "I can't believe you're really here. So many times I dreamed you came back, but never," she laughed, "never like this. And you're still so much the same, knowing exactly what you want."

"Of course," said Malik slowly, "I might want to come…if you buy me a motorcycle." He shot his sister a meaningful glance.

"Maybe when you're older," said Isis. "I'm sure you'll like Egypt, though."

"But I want to stay here. I want to stay with Uncle Yuugi!"

"I'm not even old enough to shave, and I get stuck in a custody battle over a kid," muttered Yuugi to himself. No one paid any attention.

"I understand, Malik," Isis said, the name sounding new on her tongue. "But you'll like Egypt."

"But I don't know you," Malik said in almost a whisper. 

Isis looked stricken. "I'm sure you'll remember with a little time," she insisted, not quite accepting his loss of memory. "Tell you what, you come stay at the hotel with me tonight. I can get them to bring a cot for you, and we can talk or something. It would be good for us to get to know each other again."

Malik thought about that, sucking on his fork. "Okay. Just for tonight, though."


	18. Owari?

It took them longer than expected to get to their room, though, because Malik found he had a fascination for elevators and their music. They rode from the lobby to the top floor and back again several times before he was finally satisfied and the song finished. 

He then volunteered to act as overseer when room service brought up the extra cot for him. Even after they had left, he had Isis reposition it twice before he was satisfied. Finally, he flopped down with a satisfied sigh. "What was I like before I died?" he asked quietly.

Isis sat down on her bed, looking thoughtful. "You were…not that different from how you are now, if you look very deep. You always had a stubborn streak, which you made no attempts to suppress. You also had a strong attachment to those you loved, though you tried to hide it back then."

"Was I a good boy?" asked Malik suddenly.

Isis opened her mouth and then closed it, unsure of what to say.

"Uncle Yuugi said that sometimes I make trouble." He rubbed his eyes a little sleepily. "I want to be a good boy…" His words faded into a yawn. "He says I have a kind heart. Isis, does that mean that I'm a good boy?"

"Yes, or at least you have a start," she said softly, tucking him under the covers and kissing his forehead. She was glad he was getting used to her presence.

But around one in the morning, she woke to a soft sniffling. "Malik?" she asked, gliding angel-like in her nightgown over to his bed. He was curled up beneath the blankets, crying quietly. "What's the matter?" she asked, taking him into her arms.

"I…I miss Uncle Yuugi," he said reluctantly. "I'm homesick. I want to go back."

"When the sun comes up," she reassured him, "we'll go back to the game shop. You'll see Yuugi again in a few hours."

Malik wiped his eyes on her sleeve. "Are you really going to take me away?"

"I thought I was at first, but I'm not sure now. We'll talk to Yuugi tomorrow and try and work things out."

Malik's face brightened. "I know! If you marry Uncle Yuugi, we don't have to go anywhere!"

Isis choked.

"Don't you like my idea?"

"Well…Yuugi isn't even out of high school yet. It's a little early to think about something like marriage."

"Maybe," he murmured, curling up in the warmth of his sister's arms. She held him even after he had fallen asleep, running her fingers through his soft hair. The tears trickled slowly from her eyes. She did not weep out of grief, but rather from a calm sort of joy. She had lost and now regained, and it was real.

The next day, Yuugi saw the car drive up again, and the Ishtar siblings walked together to the game shop doorway.

"Uncle Yuugi!" cried Malik, beaming, "Neesan says she'll move back to Japan! I'll still get to see you every day!"

Owari

Special thanks to Tenshi Bakeru and Gabbi, my two most faithful reviewers. Actually, if Tenshi Bakeru's Yami hadn't "flamed" me for not updating, this story would probably never have been finished. ^_~ Arigatou, minna-san!


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